Lessons and Activities that Complement the Primary Education Thinking Skills Curriculum
The following activities and lessons may be used to supplement the PETS™ program, a curriculum that addresses four types of thinking: convergent, divergent, visual-spatial, and evaluative. PETS™ is described as “a systematic enrichment and diagnostic thinking skills program” with a “differentiated approach.” The six animal characters help introduce and promote different types of thinking. Visit the website to learn more about teaching thinking skills in grades K-3.
| FREE DOWNLOAD ~ PETS ACTIVITY JOURNAL YOU CAN USE WITH STUDENTS. |
ABOUT THIS: We used these pages for an entire grading period. My students recorded the date and activity (e.g. Logic Links) under the appropriate type of thinking, then under Self Evaluation, they wrote a sentence telling about the level of difficultly and whether they liked it. I explained that, like the Crystal Pond animals, we all had our strengths and we all had types of thinking that were more challenging. They wrote sentences such as “This was hard for me. I’m not a Sybil thinker but I can work on it;” or “This was fun! I think this was my favorite activity today.” Parents appreciated this record of the many activities we had done along with the types of thinking, and it also explained why there were not always packets of worksheets going home.
CONVERGENT THINKING
Dudley the Detective®
Sybil the Scientist®
DIVERGENT THINKING
Isabel the Inventor®
MINI-PROJECTS
Yolanda the Yarnspinner®
VISUAL-SPATIAL THINKING
Max the Magician®
EVALUATIVE THINKING
Jordan the Judge®
This page is another work in progress, so if you use other thinking activities to complement the PETS™ curriculum, we’d love to see them! Also, to be alerted when there are updates, please subscribe. It’s free and your information is kept confidential. See the VIDEO TOUR for more information about how this site is organized.